THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress leaders are feeling the heat of seat aspirants bombarding them with claims for the four seats the party contests in the October 21 by-elections.
KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran does not have much say as it will be the two group leaders, Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, who will be calling the shots.
Mr Chandy, who went to New Delhi on Monday, is expected to attend the talks at Indira Bhavan on Tuesday morning called by Mr Ramachandran.
Mr Chennithala is also attending the crucial meeting and it is reliably learnt that they had also invited a few probable candidates.
Senior leader A. K. Antony has reportedly told all the seat aspirants that he will not intervene, passing the buck to the trio.
“During the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Ramachandran batted for Rajmohan Unnithan in Kasaragod. Similarly, this time too, he should intervene,” said a leader.
On Monday, K. V. Thomas, the five-time Ernakulam MP, had called on interim president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, fixed before the by-election announcement.
Mr Thomas maintained that he had not demanded a ticket to contest this time. But he was happy after the meeting.
“Mr Thomas has expressed his desire to hold senior party position," a leader from Delhi said.
The candidate for Ernakulam will depend on talks of a possible swap of Vattiyoorkavu and Aroor between ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups.
There is a growing demand for an Ezhava candidate for Aroor. If that’s the case, then Shanimol Usman’s candidacy is going to be doubtful.
After Adoor Prakash went to the Lok Sabha, there is no Ezhava MLA for the Congress.
